WWE RAW, 26th August - Best match of the night

Randy Orton took on Christian

This week’s RAW was the first edition in a long time that did not feature John Cena. In a way this shows how much this man has slogged week in and week out for the company despite all the criticism from our side. Cena deserves some well deserved credit for this.

The show started with a strong heel-ish promo by Triple H followed by a strong response from Daniel Bryan. AJ Lee came out with a surprise pipebomb of sorts that brought out mixed reactions from the fans. Heyman and Axel brutally assaulted Punk that looked deeply emotional. Finally the show ended with the Shield and Orton standing tall over Bryan as the entire roster watched helplessly the tyranny of the management.

Coming to the match of the night, the show had a few good matches worthy of discussion. Punk vs Axel was solid but the match was more about Punk getting his hands on Heyman. Daniel Bryan vs the Shield was top class with Bryan’s top rope German suplex on Rollins standing out as the best moment of the match. It was, however, the clash of the two senior wrestlers of the company that managed to garner attention, clinching the match of the night label.

Randy Orton challenged Christian backstage for a match after Captain Charisma called Orton a tool. Orton seemingly upset by the comment took it to Christian as the match began. Orton looked extremely aggressive and pulled out perfectly heelish moves accompanied with a sinister grin. Christian was sent to the floor twice and took a huge bump in the second that must have made him dizzy for a while. Orton completely dominated the first segment of the match as we headed into a break.

Back from the break, Orton remains in control but we see a slow fight back from Christian. The old veteran looked reddened by Orton’s hits but remained defiant as he managed to land a few strong strikes on Orton. Orton, after receiving a few hard blows in the corner burst out with a huge clothesline. Christian somehow managed to connect a top rope cross body for a two count. Both wrestlers looked fired up as the match began to gain momentum. After a rope-hung DDT, Christian countered an RKO and hit a tornado DDT for a near fall.

He then set Orton up for a spear but Orton managed to evade the first try. Christian ran back and connected with the spear, but Orton somehow managed to kick out which surprisingly brought a huge cheer from the crowd. Orton then hit a thumb to the eye behind the referee’s back and hit the RKO on Christian for the win.

Christian and Orton have an history between them as far as good matches are concerned and their feud in 2011 brought out their best. Their in-ring chemistry remained unfazed and raised the stakes for Daniel Bryan to win the match of the night label which he surprisingly fell short.

Post-match Daniel Bryan made sure he ruined Orton’s new gift from the boss. He spray painted ‘YES’ all over the Cadillac Escalade that Triple H so dearly gifted Orton.